IPL 2018: Suresh Raina sees shades of himself in Rishabh Pant

Having amassed 620 runs in 13 innings with 1 century and 4 fifties, Rishabh Pant is currently the third highest run-getter of IPL 2018.

In the last few years, Rishabh Pant has impressed one and all with his consistently amazing performances in domestic cricket besides doing well in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) for Delhi Daredevils.

However, Pant’s stocks as a limited-overs batsman have gone a notch above in IPL 2018. The left-hander has been in prolific touch with the bat this season. Having amassed 620 runs in 13 innings with 1 century and 4 fifties, Rishabh is currently the third highest run-getter of IPL 2018 and is the leading run-scorer for Delhi.

"He is doing so well. He is my favourite batsman right now," Raina quoted as saying by India Today.

Raina, who has represented India in 18 Tests, 223 ODIs and 73 T20Is, didn’t stop there and went to say that the 20-year-old Pant reminds him of his younger days.

"The way he plays, he reminds me of myself, of my early days. In fact, Sachin Paaji (Tendulkar) also said that he is a mix of Raina and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh). Viru bhai (Sehwag) also praised him a lot. Such cricketers are god-gifted. I have seen many ups-and-downs in these 10 years but god-gifted players like him just need support," he added.

Suresh Raina concluded by saying that the Delhi lad has a long way to go. Pant has played only 4 T20Is for India thus far.

"I think that whatever opportunity he has got till now, he has done reasonably well for the Indian team. It is unfortunate that he missed out on a place in the Indian team for the Ireland and England tour. He seems to be one of those cricketers who will play for a long time for India," Raina signed-off.